Butterflies
by sparklylulz
Summary: So they sat in silence together, and all of the hope and possibilities seemed as if they would crush Luna in one single blow. She watched him, and she was surprised to find that he was watching her, too. -Harry/Luna


**A/N: So, I have recently gotten hardcore back into Harry Potter, and as always I like the oddball pairings, and I love Luna/Harry. Probably because I'm about as loony as Luna... but, I thought this was a cute idea.**

**This story is AU after the Battle of Hogwarts, and takes place that last month of term, which Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to stay at the castle for the remainder of the year. The song used is "The Tension and the Terror" by Straylight Run. The title is a Port Blue song, that I find really quirky, and well fitting for Luna's personality.**

–

_**'butterflies'**_

'_All the boys voices cracking,_

_Oh, the moaning half tones,_

_Come summer time,_

_We're all the same age here'_

–

Luna had always enjoyed the summertime, as all of her favorite childhood memories seemed to take place during the summer. Looking for plimpies in the creek, and going hunting for the Crumple Horned Snorkack with her father. If she thought really hard she could remember making cookies with her mother, and all the more normal aspects of her life before she lost her mother forever. Summers were usually a time for adventure in the Lovegood household, which helped Luna get her mind off more serious things.

It was summer again, and this summer would be the first without the taint of Lord Voldemort in such a long time. The end of May was quickly approaching, leaving only one more month of her sixth year at Hogwarts. She could distinctly still remember walking through the oak doors, spotting the nargles at once. She had been the seventh student to have the Sorting Hat placed on her head, which had whispered words of comfort in her ear about how thinking outside the box was always welcome and rewarded in Ravenclaw.

She could feel the grass licking at her toes as she walked barefoot through the ground, looking forward to reading next to the dark lake. She was excited at the prospect of being out in the warm air, letting her blond hair flow in the light breeze. As she skipped she turned her head to the right and saw Ginny and Harry sitting under a large beach tree. He seemed to be frowning, while Ginny's red head was looking at the ground. He looked up to catch Luna's eye, and she felt the butterflies tickle her again and smiled before continuing on her way to the lake.

Luna had never really had time for boys before. Most of the boys in her grade thought she was crazy, or they were all caught up with some other girl. Neville had once expressed interest in Luna, but she had loved him as a friend for so long, she could not foresee herself loving him in any other manner. That outlook on boys had changed several months back, when she had been rescued from that dreadful dungeon in the Malfoy Manner. She and Mr. Ollivander, though they never said it, had been resigned to the fact that they would die there, as no one knew where they were. Not that she minded much, death wasn't really that scary, her daddy had once said it was as easy as falling asleep. Yet, they had both survived, thanks to Harry Potter.

–

_'All the tension and the terror,_

_Thin limbed gorgeous green eyes smiling,_

_And I'm going straight to hell,_

_All the possibility and promise just,_

_Weighs on me so heavily'_

She was sitting in her favorite spot next to the lake, where she could clearly see the Giant Squid so that she could reach out and pet it when it surfaced. Her runes book was upside down and she was trying to keep all of her focus on reading the strange markings. It was proving increasingly difficult as she could still see Harry and Ginny out of her peripheral vision. They seemed to be arguing, which she hated for them. Ginny had quite liked him, but over the course of the year she had become bitter with him for leaving her behind. She seemed to be even more upset after the death of her second favorite brother. Luna was not very good at the act of comfort and she just seemed to make Ginny's suffering that much worse.

Before she could really understand what was happening, she could hear footsteps behind her. She assumed it was another Slytherin coming to make fun of her, as they so often did. She kept her head down, getting ready to ignore whatever cliché insult would be pelted at her, but the impending insult never came.

"Hi, Luna." Her eyes widened a little before she looked up to see a tousle haired, skinny boy standing over her, a crooked smile lining his face.

"Hello, Harry. What brings you here?" She asked softly, staring into his eyes. His always beautiful and stunningly green eyes.

He fidgeted a little, before deciding to sit next to the younger girl to stare out at the lake as one giant tentacle reached up and Luna stretched out to rub it gently, a gentle and serene smile lighting up her pale face. She looked back over to him, still waiting for an answer to her previous question. He looked back at her, gazing intently.

"Just had to get away from it all. Ron and Hermione don't stop snogging, and Ginny's being... Well, I just needed a break with someone who doesn't judge me." He flashed her another dazzling crooked smile, and she found herself blushing slightly.

"Oh, well, it is nice out." She noticed his eyes flash to the tomb of white marble that was clearly visible on the school grounds. "I do miss him, he was quite funny. He once found me crying the halls after being made fun of in fourth year, and told me that if being loony was such a bad thing, he should be carted off to Azkaban straight away." She said, and Harry laughed at her pronouncement, and the sound was magical.

"I don't think you're loony, I just think you think in a different way." Harry found himself saying, patting Luna's shoulder in a friendly fashion that sent her heart racing again.

"Thank you, Harry." She said quietly, not really sure how to respond to his kind words.

So they sat in silence together, and all of the hope and possibilities seemed as if they would crush Luna in one single blow. She watched him, and she was surprised to find that he too, was watching her. She looked back to the lake, cherishing the peaceful moment.

–

_'__And I try but I'm not convincing,_

_Your lips they pout and twist and,_

_I die trying just to keep myself from kissing you,_

_You take in everything with a certainty I envy_

_It's somehow all I need, just keep me guessing please'_

Harry Potter was a very odd boy indeed. He had seen more pain than most would ever experience, and he had ended up a hero. Now that he didn't need to hunt down Voldemort or any horcruxes, he wasn't really sure what to do with himself. It had been a very stressful past few weeks, after rounding up all of the lifeless bodies that were strewn across the Hogwarts grounds they had buried them all in a small cemetery near Dumbledore's tomb as a testament to their bravery. Ginny had been resentful, especially after her brother's death, and Harry didn't seem to be able to change that resentment.

Ron and Hermione were another story. Harry has very happy and grateful that they were no longer bickering all the time, and had finally realized how much they loved each other. Now, however, all they did was snog. Harry had never felt more like a third wheel, not that he would ever take their happiness from them. What with Ginny not wanting anything to do with him, and the lack of Ron and Hermione, Harry found himself in the company of Luna Lovegood frequently. Not that he minded per se, but Luna had always been able to see straight through him.

For a long time, over the course of two and a half weeks, he had forced himself into thinking that the strange fluttering in his stomach he got around Luna was simply due to the oddity that she personified. Soon, however, he couldn't deny how pretty he found her when she had her hair flowing out behind her and the way she always seemed to be wearing those ridiculous radish earrings, or even how she would prattle on about non existent creatures just so he didn't have to think about things too much. Yes, Luna got him in ways that not even Ron or Hermione did.

"Luna?" He had asked her one night as they sat in the Great Hall together. Her bright eyes looked up at him, and he suddenly felt like jelly.

"Yes, Harry?" She asked curiously, placing the Quibbler down on the table, a lock of her dirty blonde was hair sticking out of the ponytail she wore it in.

"Have you ever dated anyone?" He asked, feeling rather stupid at the bright blush that lit up her face at his inquiry.

She looked at him for a moment, a contemplative look on her pale face, as if she were trying to stare into him to find out what relevance question this would have. He stared back at her, in a way he hoped that seemed casual.

"Once. He wasn't very nice though, it ended up being that he just wanted to have someone to make another girl jealous. I didn't really like him, though." She said in her always dreamy, airy voice and Harry felt a pang of sadness for Luna that he couldn't really understand.

"Well, that's a shame, Luna." He said softly, and they lapsed into to silence, leaving Luna to guess what on Earth he had meant by it.

–

_'Oh darling all of these awkward jump-start-stalling conversations,_

_Mean much more to me than anything,_

_So it comes down to me and you and,_

_Whether were supposed to or not we still will,_

_We're so much better off than them,_

_All the possibility and promise just,_

_Weighs on me so heavily'_

Harry was never very good at dealing with girls, Cho Chang was great testament to this fact. Hermione had never really counted as a girl to him, as she was always just a best friend to helped him whenever he needed it. Cho was really just a disaster, and he chose not to linger on that particular memory for more than brief intervals. Ginny, though, was different. She had always appeared to be just another Weasley sibling, but when they began dating she was constantly giggling or blushing, and Harry just found it very odd. It had taken Fred's death to prove to Harry that he would never be able to comfort Ginny in a way that would be helpful. Then there was Luna Lovegood, who was incredibly different than all the other girls Harry knew. Things were never forced with Luna, and that meant quite a lot to him.

His conversations with Luna were generally quite short, but there was a lot learned about her in the conversations. He learned, for instance, that she preferred maroon to green, and that her favorite Bertie Bots Flavored Bean was popcorn. She in turn learned things about him, such as the Sorting Hat wanting to put him in Slytherin, and the time he had blown his aunt up, which she found quite funny.

Sometimes they would enter an awkward silence, but both ignored the awkward vibrations, and just enjoyed being close to the other. He would sometimes watch her when she wasn't paying attention. If they were sitting outside he could always watch the glow of the sunset upon her face, as she would read a book. By watching her he managed to learn even more about her, including that she had a freckle on her left ear lobe, or that she always ate her food in the order of the colors of the rainbow, which was something she had picked up as a child. Or so she had told him when he asked why she ate the red jello before the green beans.

He enjoyed talking to her much more than he had when he had first met her in his fifth year. Then again, she had appeared to be quite loony. Now he understood why the Sorting Hat had placed her in Ravenclaw. She just knew things about people, what they were feeling, and all the words they didn't say. She was excellent at reading in between the lines. However, none of those things were the best thing about Luna. The best thing was, that no matter how much she knew or understood, she never pushed the subject. She was content with whatever Harry gave her, and that was the greatest blessing he had ever known.

"Harry, you've got a head full of Wrackspurts again." She grinned. It was an odd occurrence to see her grin, but when she did smile, she had a lovely smile. He shook his head a bit and looked up at her, a bright smile lining his handsome face after her always strange habit of talking about imaginary creatures.

"I was just thinking of what I should do after Hogwarts, y'know. I mean, I'd like to be an auror, but I'd like to take a break before that. McGonagall offered me a job at the school, helping with teaching DADA classes." He said thoughtfully, trying to pretend that he didn't want to remain at Hogwarts just because he would see Luna more often.

Luna was smiling at him, and it was an infectious sort of smile.

"You know, I'm thinking of going into Wandlore." She said gently, looking at her wand once more, and Harry did not find this pronouncement odd at all. Luna had grown quite fond of Ollivander during the months she had spent with him, and besides, Luna would make a fantastic wandmaker, it took a certain level of insanity to preform the task.

"I think that's excellent." He said, rubbing her arm gently, and both suddenly jumped at the close contact. They had never really touched each other before, and now that the barrier had been broken, neither party could ever be happy without doing it again.

–

_'__And I try but I'm not convincing,_

_Your lips they pout and twist and,_

_I die trying just to keep myself from kissing you,_

_You take in everything with a certainty I envy_

_It's somehow all I need just keep me guessing please'_

Luna was watching Harry and Ginny in a deep conversation. She wasn't really sure what Harry was hoping to accomplish. It worried her that she wasn't being a good enough friend that he had to go and seek out his ex girlfriend for a long conversation. As she watched she noticed Ginny's eyes move over to look at Luna, and then she would frown slightly.

Luna had always felt a connection to Harry Potter. She had met him just after her fourteenth birthday, and she had instantly felt a connection with him. As the year went on, he would become the person to insure her a group of friends she would never have found otherwise. She learned they could both see thestrals, because death seemed to follow them. He was the first person she ever told about her mother, and she was the first person he had come to after the horrible incident in the Department of Mysteries. She fell in love with him after he offered to help her find her things, which was probably the nicest thing a boy had ever done for her.

Ginny was always there though, always talking about how much she liked Harry, and Luna could see clearly that Harry felt the exact same about the red headed girl who had been a part of his life for so long. Luna didn't harbor any ill will towards Ginny, as she had always protected Luna, and in all fairness, she _had_ seen Harry first. Now, however, Ginny was being ridiculous to Harry, who could not fairly be blamed for Fred Weasley's death. Luna knew that Harry always felt guilty for everyone who had died during that battle, even though it wasn't particularly his fault. She did not push this matter with him, because she knew him well enough to let him heal on his own.

Luna stood quickly as she finished with her gold plate and turned towards the exit from the Great Hall. She considered visiting the Owlery, hoping to feed the owls her scraps of bread from dinner that night. She smiled to herself, thinking of her owl, Artemis's, face when she got her treat, and quickly made her way up to the familiar drafty tower. She entered the room to hear a soft hooting coming from the few remaining owls that stayed at Hogwarts now. She smiled at them as she walked in the room, seeing Artemis's comforting brown face.

"I've brought you a treat. I missed you." She said kindly as the bird perched itself on her arm to eat the small bread scraps she had brought.

"I'm sure she missed you too." She jumped, knocking Artemis a little askew, earning a reproachful look from the owl.

"Harry, how'd you know I was here?" She asked, turning back to her owl.

"Oh, I saw you sneaking scraps all dinner, and you only do that when you're missing Artemis." He said, a kind smile gracing his face as he reached out to hand his own bread scraps to another owl that was looking at Luna's hand longingly.

"They are lovely creatures. My second favorite, actually, right behind thestrals." She said whimsically. Harry nodded, as he had always loved owls more than most in the wizarding world he had been a part of for such a short time that felt like ages.

"Yeah. I miss Hedwig everyday." He said softly, a strained ounce of pain in his voice as he looked out the window. Artemis left Luna's arm then and she reached out to pat his shoulder, her body fluttering at the contact.

"Those people, everyone who died... it wasn't your fault, you know. I know Ginny has been upset, but don't take it personally." She said gently, and he looked at her, and she did not remove her hand from his warm shoulder.

"We had a talk tonight." He said simply, and she waited for him to continue, not wanting to push him to say anything he didn't want.

"She said that she just doesn't love me anymore. Which is okay, I guess, since I haven't really loved her for a while." He said slowly, and Luna took in every look on his face-- sadness, relief, and hope all flashed across his face.

"That is a good thing, I suppose." She said carefully, not wanting to sound too happy about his apparent rejection. He laughed a little at her response and nodded in agreement.

"She said she's known that it's been you for ages." He said again, very simply, and so quickly that had she not been paying attention, she would have missed it.

"Me?" She asked simply and he nodded, turning to face her.

"Yeah, you." He whispered before moving the few inches towards her and planting his lips upon hers in a way which he had been craving to do since the end of the final battle, and both hearts skipped a full heartbeat.

–

_'A look,_

_A laugh,_

_A smile,_

_A second,_

_Passes by and I regret it,_

_Words just aren't right,_

_Sometimes I just can't explain,_

_All the ways you devastate me,_

_Always on my mind'_

When they broke apart Harry was staring at her with a very nervous heart. The butterflies were going mad in his chest, and she was looking back at him with the same curious expression lining her beautiful face. Then many things happened in only a few seconds. She was laughing at him, and he found himself smiling with her, both feeling positively light with the new emotions that seem to be coursing through their veins.

"It has been you for ages." She said after a moment, and he looked at her and smiled. "Shell Cottage, I think for me." She said softly, sounding like a normal girl for a moment before he reached out to touch her face.

"You know, I don't know what I would have done without you, Luna. You've been everything, unfalteringly, and I think that makes me love you most." He said kindly, and she broke out into a grin.

"Well, at least there aren't any nargles around." She said, and he laughed before leaning forward to give her her very second kiss.

Peeves would spend that evening announcing to the entire school that '_POTTY LURVES LOONY!_' And Harry Potter would agree to remain at Hogwarts castle next year to help teach, and spend time with his eccentric and beautiful girlfriend.


End file.
